COMBINING ANALOG AND DIGITAL MAPPING TECHNIQUES IN A FULL-YEAR STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY AND SEDIMENTOLOGY-STRATIGRAPHY COURSE

Fieldwork is an essential component for most of the upper-level undergraduate courses at Lafayette College and it is a primary focus for our one-year combined course in sedimentology/stratigraphy & structural geology. The field data are collected and manipulated using a combination of conventional analog methods and newer digital technologies.

By combining the curricular and learning objectives across traditionally separate undergraduate courses, we have developed an innovative year-long course focusing on basin and structural analysis. Over the two semesters, traditionally partitioned topics are integrated into a coherent package designed to provide students with the skills required to conduct fieldwork and ultimately compile a comprehensive basin history and structural analysis of an area. Fundamental to this approach is acquiring the skills necessary to successfully obtain and interpret a quality set of field observations. During both semesters, sedimentological description, structural measurements and basic field mapping skills are acquired through a series of field projects. Over sixty percent of lab time is spent on field projects. We are then fortunate to be able to have an extended field-mapping project in the structurally complex Bighorn Basin as a capstone experience. This allows the students to apply their acquired skills to the interpretation of the depositional and deformational history of the region.

While traditional methods are used to make the field measurements for both the field labs and extended field project, these are coupled with gps location information and digital mapping techniques including Google Earth and GIS. Working in teams, field observations are recorded on Google Earth images and in field notebooks and this information is transferred daily to Google Earth and EXCEL files. Subsequent maps are constructed using both paper media and GIS methodologies. While we are investigating the use of electronic data recording methods in the field, we feel that the combination of using traditional paper media, digital location information, and both paper and electronic mapping methods post-acquisition is a strong pedagogical approach for providing our graduates with the skills necessary to become well-prepared field geologists.